Larry Morgan loses close second-round bout at U.S. Nationals
INDIANAPOLIS – FireAde driver Larry Morgan lost a close race to defending NHRA Pro Stock champion Erica 
Enders in the second round of eliminations at the Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals at Lucas Oil Raceway in Indianapolis.
Enders pulled a slight holeshot on Morgan (.036 to .043), but it was a close race from start to finish. At the finish line, Enders ended Morgan’s day with a pass of 6.617 seconds at 209.01 mph to Morgan’s 6.613 seconds at 209.52 mph. The cars were never more than .009-second apart.
“We would have loved to have won second round,” said Morgan. “The car didn’t shift the best and Erica had a better light, but we feel we’re back to where we were. For once we weren’t upset at the end of the run.”
Despite leaving the prestigious event after the second stanza, Morgan was upbeat about the team’s performance and is looking forward to the Countdown to the Championship.
“When we raced in the first round today it was a different engine, different car setup, and to go one-thousandth from the fastest car, we were pretty excited. Now we feel a lot more comfortable going into the Countdown.
“Actually, the team wants to put crime scene tape around everything: Leave the clutch in, don’t change anything, seal the trailer, and put crime scene tape all around everything. We’ve been struggling for a while and now we’re back to where we were. Things are going back together at the right time of the year. We’re pretty happy.”
Morgan, who won his first Pro Stock final at the U.S. Nationals back in 1989, faced 2012 NHRA Pro Stock champion Allen Johnson in the first round of eliminations. Morgan posted low elapsed time of the round and led from the 60-foot mark to the finish line to win, 6.603 at 209.85 mph to 6.621 at 209.17 mph.
After qualifying 12th for the NHRA Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals under uncomfortably hot conditions, Morgan’s team discovered a mechanical glitch in his FireAde Chevrolet Camaro.
“The reason we ran slower in qualifying is that we had one of the four-link rear suspension components mounted in the wrong hole,” Morgan said. “We got that fixed and the car picked up.”
The six-race NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series Countdown to the Championship playoffs begin Sept. 18-20 in Charlotte, N.C., and Morgan already was locked in before the U.S. Nationals.
